The Wanderer's Journey

[AimlessWanderer]

Today's shave was the usual Jagger razor, the usual Omega 10051 brush, the usual local "melt & pour" craft soap, a SuperMax Blue Diamond Titanium blade, and a splash of the Superdrug cheapo Forest Fresh aftershave.

Very nice shave!

I know some folks adore their top of the line purchases, and sing their praises over the "lesser" offerings on the market ... but not this lad. A great shave with simple straightforward kit is what gives me the most satisfaction.

 

[Seveneighth]

Updated tally

Shaves Per Blade:

11 - Shark Super Chrome
32 - Gillette 7 O'Clock Yellow
19 - Wilkinson Sword Classic
5 - Derby Extra (Retest needed)
13 - Polsilver SI (13 bad shaves!)
15 - Derby Premium
10 - SuperMax Blue Diamond Titanium
10 - Gillette Nacet
23 - Astra SP
12 - Polsilver SI (Retest)
14 - Gillette Silver Blue
34 - Feather
14 - Derby Extra (retest)
10 - Silver Astor ( vintage)
13 - Kai
6 - Zaza
6 - Zaza (retest)
9 - Gillette Super Thin
9 - Silver Star (red)
4 - Gillette Goal

Have you tried Treet Dura Sharp carbon steel blades? I thought I would go all carbon for OCtober, but I haven't got on with them. Had the same issue with Swedish Steel straight razors until I discovered coticules.

You are welcome to the rest of my Treets if you would like to add them to your tests.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Have you tried Treet Dura Sharp carbon steel blades? I thought I would go all carbon for OCtober, but I haven't got on with them. Had the same issue with Swedish Steel straight razors until I discovered coticules.

You are welcome to the rest of my Treets if you would like to add them to your tests.

Thanks for the offer, mate, but I've got a bit of an irrational aversion to carbon DE blades. I don't mind the straight and hollow ground SEs, as I give them a good stropping before I use them, and even though that's not sanitary, my warped mind tells me that’s perfectly fine, yet for some reason carbon DE blades give me the eebie geebies

 

[Seveneighth]

Thanks for the offer, mate, but I've got a bit of an irrational aversion to carbon DE blades. I don't mind the straight and hollow ground SEs, as I give them a good stropping before I use them, and even though that's not sanitary, my warped mind tells me that’s perfectly fine, yet for some reason carbon DE blades give me the eebie geebies

Given my recent experiences I think you might be justified.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Given my recent experiences I think you might be justified.

Aside from users who never go beyond two shaves with any blade, I'm struggling to recall any favourable reviews about them. Although to be honest, I probably developed the aversion to them the second I heard that they existed. I'm not particularly a fan of carbon pocket knives or sheath knives for that matter either I do have a few of each, but always find myself reaching for a stainless one.

 

[Seveneighth]

Aside from users who never go beyond two shaves with any blade, I'm struggling to recall any favourable reviews about them. Although to be honest, I probably developed the aversion to them the second I heard that they existed. I'm not particularly a fan of carbon pocket knives or sheath knives for that matter either I do have a few of each, but always find myself reaching for a stainless one.

I have an affection for carbon steel knives since my dad bought me a Barlow knife when we were on holiday in Grange over Sands when I was 11, and showing me how to test the quality of the carbon steel. What I've discovered since then is that not all carbon steels are the same and not all stainless steels are either of course. I don't like the steel those Treet blades are made out of.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

The postman came today.

Huge thanks to Doug @Somerled for this generous care package. Today's shave will be with the Grande and second shave on a Blue Diamond Titanium blade.

(if I use a new razor with new blade, I won't know which characteristics are from what)

Also though the letterbox at the same time, came these five bottles.

I'll be cleaning out an empty vape juice bottle later, and knocking up a 10ml sample of my own homebrew aftershave.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

First shave done with the Grande. Usual brush, usuap soap, usual lather, and usual sequence of passes. No fire, flood, riot or stampede.

There was a little more tingle from the alum than usual, but the same touch up was needed in the same areas, all leading to the same finish. I did try a couple of short strokes directly against the grain, but didn't seem any more comfortable than with the Merkur 985, which is my nearest razor to the Grande, and then reverted back to my usual routine straight away.

This is a little different to shave with than what I'm used to, in as much as the blade exposure does feel more pronounced, and the angle of dangle seems more variable. The razors that I'm used to using, have a very precise angle at which they work properly, and you're either right or your wrong. The Grande doesn't dictate angle in the same way, and you have the ability to go steeper and shallower, and still keep the blade edge at skin level... but it's hard to say which you're actually doing when it's not a razor that you're familiar with.

I need a few more shaves on this before reaching any conclusions.

 

[Seveneighth]

First shave done with the Grande. Usual brush, usuap soap, usual lather, and usual sequence of passes. No fire, flood, riot or stampede.

There was a little more tingle from the alum than usual, but the same touch up was needed in the same areas, all leading to the same finish. I did try a couple of short strokes directly against the grain, but didn't seem any more comfortable than with the Merkur 985, which is my nearest razor to the Grande, and then reverted back to my usual routine straight away.

This is a little different to shave with than what I'm used to, in as much as the blade exposure does feel more pronounced, and the angle of dangle seems more variable. The razors that I'm used to using, have a very precise angle at which they work properly, and you're either right or your wrong. The Grande doesn't dictate angle in the same way, and you have the ability to go steeper and shallower, and still keep the blade edge at skin level... but it's hard to say which you're actually doing when it's not a razor that you're familiar with.

I need a few more shaves on this before reaching any conclusions.

I've followed your various posts and agree with 97% of what you say. I have meant to engage you on the topic of open combs. I started as a teenager on a Wilkinson sword classic and then shaved for the next 30 years with an open comb I borrowed (for 30 years) from my father and a couple of vintage straights from my grandfather.

In that time I didn't realise that DE razors were still being made until a couple of years ago when I stumbled across the forums looking for a review of Merkur Futur (DEs are still being made and they make adjustables now??? - LOL I was so ignorant back then).

So what I am interested in is how you adjust technique for the Grande - if at all, as the Piccolo is very similar to the razor I used for 3 decades.

For me, my my angle and lather consistency changes with an open comb.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

So what I am interested in is how you adjust technique for the Grande - if at all, as the Piccolo is very similar to the razor I used for 3 decades.

The Grande is not the first open comb razor that I've used. The Merkur 985 is open combed, and clamps the blade in effectively the same way, and giving the same "zero gap" effect as the Grande. At home, I'll use the 985 head on the Jagger handle, but away from home, I'll carry it in its little pouch, and use the mini 2 piece handle.

In terms of handling, I don’t use the Merkur any different to the Jagger. The biggest notable difference being in the approach to facial hair I intend keeping. The closed comb will hit a beard and stop, whereas an open comb with glide into it, and take chunks out if you're not careful. I use the same lather, and just find the razor's prime angle and go with it.

In terms of using the Grande today in comparison with using the Merkur open comb, I was simply trying to find the right angle today. However, as the Grande has such a broad window of working angle, you don't get that "ah, there it is" feel from getting it just right, because either side of that, you're still cutting at skin level. As such, I don't know which bits I hit steep or shallow, as I haven't yet acclimatised myself to how the handle angle translates to blade presentation - which differs on every razor.

So in many respects, using the Merkur 985 open comb, is more like using the Jagger than using the Grande, throughout most of the shave. I haven't yet figured out what works best for my face from the Grande... although I must say that I've had a little bit of burn since typing the earlier post, and have since applied a little balm.

In short, from this shave I got no advantage of efficiency or comfort from using the Grande today, I just got a bit extra burn. However, that may well be just due to familiarity, or lack of, and things may change in future shaves.

 

[Seveneighth]

The Grande is not the first open comb razor that I've used. The Merkur 985 is open combed, and clamps the blade in effectively the same way, and giving the same "zero gap" effect as the Grande. At home, I'll use the 985 head on the Jagger handle, but away from home, I'll carry it in its little pouch, and use the mini 2 piece handle.

In terms of handling, I don’t use the Merkur any different to the Jagger. The biggest notable difference being in the approach to facial hair I intend keeping. The closed comb will hit a beard and stop, whereas an open comb with glide into it, and take chunks out if you're not careful. I use the same lather, and just find the razor's prime angle and go with it.

In terms of using the Grande today in comparison with using the Merkur open comb, I was simply trying to find the right angle today. However, as the Grande has such a broad window of working angle, you don't get that "ah, there it is" feel from getting it just right, because either side of that, you're still cutting at skin level. As such, I don't know which bits I hit steep or shallow, as I haven't yet acclimatised myself to how the handle angle translates to blade presentation - which differs on every razor.

So in many respects, using the Merkur 985 open comb, is more like using the Jagger than using the Grande, throughout most of the shave. I haven't yet figured out what works best for my face from the Grande... although I must say that I've had a little bit of burn since typing the earlier post, and have since applied a little balm.

In short, from this shave I got no advantage of efficiency or comfort from using the Grande today, I just got a bit extra burn. However, that may well be just due to familiarity, or lack of, and things may change in future shaves.

I didn't mean to suggest you weren't experienced with an open comb, just that I hadn't had an opportunity to ask you about them. Interesting the difference between the 985 and the Grande. My open combs feel different to my SBs in similar ways so I was thinking there were some general rules between the two, but you've thrown me with your comments about the 985.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I didn't mean to suggest you weren't experienced with an open comb, just that I hadn't had an opportunity to ask you about them. Interesting the difference between the 985 and the Grande. My open combs feel different to my SBs in similar ways so I was thinking there were some general rules between the two, but you've thrown me with your comments about the 985.

My experience with different razors is in fact rather limited. There's probably relative newbies here who have experience of more razors than I do. The Grande is the second open comb razor I've ever used, I've only ever used two butterfly openers, and then there's the Jagger which is my primary razor, and the Wilkinson Sword Classic that I used for my first 20 years of DE shaving. Oh, and I've tried one of those plastic Gillette Click razors, where the cap flips open from one end.

That's it!

So I've been a DE shaver for a long time, but not used many different razors along the way. I hope I don't have to start tinkering with lather to get the best from this razor, as my current lather works fine with every other DE razor I've used, plus a DE shavette. I do have to change it a little with my straight, but that might be because I haven't gotten that to optimal condition yet.

Out of interest, what do you need to do differently for open comb, and why does that not work for you with closed comb?

 

[Somerled]

Good to see it arrived, and managed a shave with the Grande already!
I only ever had one shave with the Grande and decided that it would also be my last.
I couldn't live with that amount of blade feel and always felt that it just wanted to eat me rather than shave.
So I took up straights instead - go figure.

BTW, don't know if you noticed but I put a nylon washer on the screw part of the handle. Did that with all my razors with screw on handles.
Read somewhere, doing that prevents over tightening.

The Empire set also arrived today and it's quite a contraption.
Going to have to do some digging around to see if I can hone these blades on my stones.
An interesting project indeed. Thanks Al.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Good to see it arrived, and managed a shave with the Grande already!
I only ever had one shave with the Grande and decided that it would also be my last.
I couldn't live with that amount of blade feel and always felt that it just wanted to eat me rather than shave.
So I took up straights instead - go figure.

BTW, don't know if you noticed but I put a nylon washer on the screw part of the handle. Did that with all my razors with screw on handles.
Read somewhere, doing that prevents over tightening.

The Empire set also arrived today and it's quite a contraption.
Going to have to do some digging around to see if I can hone these blades on my stones.
An interesting project indeed. Thanks Al.

Glad it got there Ok. It's certainly a fascinating piece of engineering.

I know what you mean about the Grande. I think this feels more like it wants to bite me than my DE shavette, which doesn't really make much sense. I've also discovered an area on my face which feels a little sore, but isn't BBS, so I managed to irritate the skin, without removing all the stubble, which is not something I would normally encounter.

I did notice the nylon washer, but assumed that it had come with the razor. My first thought was "Oh bugger, I hope that's not critical, cos I'm sure to lose it"

 

[Seveneighth]

My experience with different razors is in fact rather limited. There's probably relative newbies here who have experience of more razors than I do. The Grande is the second open comb razor I've ever used, I've only ever used two butterfly openers, and then there's the Jagger which is my primary razor, and the Wilkinson Sword Classic that I used for my first 20 years of DE shaving. Oh, and I've tried one of those plastic Gillette Click razors, where the cap flips open from one end.

That's it!

So I've been a DE shaver for a long time, but not used many different razors along the way. I hope I don't have to start tinkering with lather to get the best from this razor, as my current lather works fine with every other DE razor I've used, plus a DE shavette. I do have to change it a little with my straight, but that might be because I haven't gotten that to optimal condition yet.

Out of interest, what do you need to do differently for open comb, and why does that not work for you with closed comb?

I admire your purity. I, like you, used the one razor for decades but then I went properly RAD nuts over the last couple of years.

I have a couple of razors that ride the cap well - both solid bars. In fact it was your concept of riding the cap that got me enjoying SBs more. Starting with open combs such as the R41 and with the ATT M2 and the Piccolo I have personally found a steeper angle more effective -or at least riding the guard.

So my first role of thumb is generally, if in doubt: solid bar - tend towards riding the cap - open comb, ride the guard.

I broadly agree with you sentiments on this forum about lather although I do see it slightly differently. I think you talk about thin lather. For me it's about the amount of water you get into the lather. I will happily beat up a lot of lather by adding more and more water to it. Thick dry yoghurt I don't agree with.

Whether we consider this to be equivalent to thinness or not I personally find the following works best for me:

OC- least water
SB - more water
Straight razor - most water

 

[Somerled]

Glad it got there Ok. It's certainly a fascinating piece of engineering.

I know what you mean about the Grande. I think this feels more like it wants to bite me than my DE shavette, which doesn't really make much sense. I've also discovered an area on my face which feels a little sore, but isn't BBS, so I managed to irritate the skin, without removing all the stubble, which is not something I would normally encounter.

I did notice the nylon washer, but assumed that it had come with the razor. My first thought was "Oh bugger, I hope that's not critical, cos I'm sure to lose it"

I suspect that you'll have to find the best blade thats going to work for you in that razor.

I started taking notes when I shaved with DE's and rated (0-10) all the different blades per razor.
Something like what your doing with the blades, I did it for both razor and blades.
Got a 9 and 10 rating on blades with my Feather. Never got above a 6 with the Timeless Bronze I had, similar with the Merkur Futur.
At that point I decided DE's were not for me, sold off the Bronze and moved on to Injectors.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I admire your purity. I, like you, used the one razor for decades but then I went properly RAD nuts over the last couple of years.

I have a couple of razors that ride the cap well - both solid bars. In fact it was your concept of riding the cap that got me enjoying SBs more. Starting with open combs such as the R41 and with the ATT M2 and the Piccolo I have personally found a steeper angle more effective -or at least riding the guard.

So my first role of thumb is generally, if in doubt: solid bar - tend towards riding the cap - open comb, ride the guard.

I broadly agree with you sentiments on this forum about lather although I do see it slightly differently. I think you talk about thin lather. For me it's about the amount of water you get into the lather. I will happily beat up a lot of lather by adding more and more water to it. Thick dry yoghurt I don't agree with.

Whether we consider this to be equivalent to thinness or not I personally find the following works best for me:

OC- least water
SB - more water
Straight razor - most water

I prefer, wherever possible, to hover in the goldilocks zone between cap riding and comb riding, although with a closed comb, I think I'd veer more towards riding the cap than the comb, so the comb doesn't scrape away all the lather before the blade gets there. As most of my razors are mild, I probably spend most of the shave bumping between both extremes, and possibly even riding both together at times.

With my razors, whatever the narrow working angle is, is right for my face. It seems on first shave, that the wider angle range on the Grande encompases angles which work for me, and angles which don't. Unfortunately I haven't figured out which is which yet. I probably need to do a full shave as steep as I can manage, followed by another as shallow as I can manage, and see which plunges my face into the least turmoil.

As to lather, I do like mine fairly wet. It's not unusual for me to get runs down my neck, or dripping off the razor as I shave. However, I don't strive for a very specific ratio, and can tolerate fluctuations fairly well. So long as I can feel the razor, and what it's doing, I can get a decent shave. If it's the "protective cushioning" lather that some folks love, I find it baffles the razor feel, and then I'm less precise with the razor.

The only time I need to make specific changes is with a straight. The straight doesn't like my local craft soap, no matter how I mix it, so I always have to have some tallow in play, either from a shavestick, or double loading the shavestick and my regular soap.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I suspect that you'll have to find the best blade thats going to work for you in that razor.

I started taking notes when I shaved with DE's and rated (0-10) all the different blades per razor.
Something like what your doing with the blades, I did it for both razor and blades.
Got a 9 and 10 rating on blades with my Feather. Never got above a 6 with the Timeless Bronze I had, similar with the Merkur Futur.
At that point I decided DE's were not for me, sold off the Bronze and moved on to Injectors.

I think I just need to spend a bit more time with it first, Doug. Try to understand it a little more. I think the Blue Diamond Titanium is a good blade for me to start off with. If I'd started with a Feather, I'd have probably thrown it through the window and gone to hide in the wardrobe...

I certainly need to play around with angles a little more. I think I might be using it too steep. However, until I figure out what's right, I won't know what I was doing wrong.

 

[Esox]

This is a little different to shave with than what I'm used to, in as much as the blade exposure does feel more pronounced, and the angle of dangle seems more variable. The razors that I'm used to using, have a very precise angle at which they work properly, and you're either right or your wrong. The Grande doesn't dictate angle in the same way, and you have the ability to go steeper and shallower, and still keep the blade edge at skin level... but it's hard to say which you're actually doing when it's not a razor that you're familiar with.

The Fatip OC head has more variable for angle in it than any other razor I've used other than a straight, R41 included.

Dont think about the angle of the razor as much and try and focus on the angle of the blade as it meets your skin.

The shallower I shave, the more pressure I apply. The steeper, the less pressure I apply. I can shave so shallow with mine over my neck that I'm pushing the cap into my skin a 1/2" just to get the right angle of blade to skin I like. I shave completely by feel and I dont like feeling the blade.

I cant use my Grande steep. Theres too much blade exposure and DE blades are too thin so if I try and use it steep the blade flexes, tugs and pulls the hairs lifting the skin surrounding them and weepers are the result. Because you shave with such light pressure Al, I'd suggest one of two things as your cause of irritation and lack of closeness. To steep an angle with more blade exposure than you're use too, to much pressure with so much added blade exposure, or a combination of both.

With DE razors, the more blade edge thats exposed, even in a rigid design, because the blades are so thin, the more that edge can flex. This is why I can use my Old Types at such extremely steep angles and shave comfortable. Theres simply less blade hanging out that can flex. This is also why I prefer my MMOC. Those thick blades do not flex, at all, ever.

It might be a challenge for you Al to learn a Fatip but it is worth it. Think of it as a straight razor with a training wheel, the cap. Find the right angle for the blade edge that you like and adjust pressure to make the blade engage. Using mine as shallow as the red line in the pic below,

if I lessen pressure even slightly, the blade wont engage. Once you find your angle and pressure combination, its magic.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

The revised blade test queue is now 14 blades. In alphabetical order, we have

Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Stainless
Gillette Platinum
Gillette Rubie
Gillette Super Nacet
Gillette Wilkinson Sword (India)
Perma-Sharp Super
Personna Lab blue
Personna Red
Rapira Platinum Lux
Rapira Super Stainless (?)
Rapira Swedish
SuperMax Stainless
Treet Platinum
Voskhod

I'll select one of these at random each time I move onto the next.